


Some feelings, they can travel too

by toughluckbuddy



Series: Strangeness & Charm [7]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crack, Gen, M/M, Pre-Slash, Time Loop, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-24
Updated: 2019-06-24
Packaged: 2020-05-19 03:04:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19348216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/toughluckbuddy/pseuds/toughluckbuddy
Summary: The strange Uchiha (“Call me Shisui”) had pictures of all of Neji’s friends dressed up as the Hokage, and it wasn’t even the weirdest thing about him.





	Some feelings, they can travel too

**Author's Note:**

> For the rarepair bingo prompts: time travel - photography - Shisui
> 
> Title from Wish That You Were Here by Florence & the Machine

The strange Uchiha (“Call me Shisui”) had pictures of all of Neji’s friends dressed up as the Hokage, and it wasn’t even the weirdest thing about him. No, the weirdest thing was that he had appeared out of thin air in Neji’s bedroom and told him “Hi, I’m stuck in a time loop and I’m here to make you Hokage.”

“There’s a prophecy going on about the Konoha Twelve,” he explained once Neji had recovered from a minor heart attack and been convinced not to call for anyone. “One of you is supposed to become Hokage and change the world, and I’m trying to figure out which one.”

“Is that Tenten?” asked Neji, pointing at the first picture. It looked like her, except older and with an eye patch.

“Yeah. She was a good Hokage but she was a bit careless. She died during a training session gone wrong. I liked her a lot.”

“And what happened afterwards?”

Shisui shrugged. “I don’t know. Next thing I knew, I was back, well. Here and now, I guess. So I tried someone else.”

He held up a picture of a very old man Neji didn’t recognize. “I don’t know who that is,” he said.

“It’s Choji. He never wanted to be Hokage and when he finally accepted the job, he died of old age before accomplishing anything.”

Neji frowned and looked Shisui over. “You don’t age then?”

“I do, actually. It… resets. When I start over. I was as old as Choji when he died. Had grandkids, even!”

“You mean you had a family and you just… disappeared? That’s awful!”

Shisui grimaced. “Not really. It’s all a little blurry once I leave, I don’t remember that much. Which is why I took pictures. I didn’t want to try someone twice.”

“So you’re still a teenager then? Not an old man?”

“I feel like a teenager, yeah,” Shisui said, and he blushed and avoided Neji’s look which was… interesting.

“Alright… Who else did you try?”

Shisui handed him the next picture. It was of Ino, and she was standing next to a handsome-looking man Neji had never seen before, looking delighted.

“Who’s that?”

Shisui groaned. “Her second husband. A con artist who ruined Konoha.”

Neji raised his eyebrows. “Isn’t it your job to prevent that kind of things?”

“Well, I tried! Would’ve married her myself if I had to but I wasn’t up to her standard, if you need to know.”

“Uh,” said Neji, discreetly looking at Shisui. He wasn’t that bad.

“Anyway, then there was Sakura, who started a war with Kumo over something stupid I don’t remember…” he showed her a picture of her and Tsunade in which she only looked a few years older than the Sakura he knew. “… and then Shino, who was murdered…”

“What?”

“Yeah, it was awful. I’m pretty sure Sasuke did it too, which is why I picked him in the next version…”

“That’s a weird logic,” Neji commented.

“… and he was murdered too.”

“That I can believe, actually.”

Shisui gave him a reproachful look. “He had lots of good ideas! His approach was too blunt, that’s all.”

“And what about Naruto? Did you try him?” asked Neji. After all, he was alright since he had come back from his three years of training, and it was his dream.

“Oh yeah, of course I did.” Shisui handed him a picture of a whole family this time. An older Naruto, two kids and… Hinata?

“Well, what was wrong with that version?” It looked very neat to him.

Shisui shrugged. “Nothing. Life was pretty much unchanged in Konoha and it was alright except… really boring I suppose? And one morning I woke up and I had started over.”

“Who did you try next then?”

“Hmm… Shikamaru was next, but I don’t have a picture of him because he ran away when he was nominated and no one ever saw him again.” Neji laughed at that and Shisui gave him a rueful look. “It’s not even the worst one!”

“Who was the worst one?”

Shisui showed him another picture. “Kiba kind of… became a dictator?”

Neji looked at the man in the photograph. He was with his dog and he had a weird smile. “How did you manage that?”

“We may have had to force things to convince people he would be a good Hokage and then he kept forcing. I had to kill him myself in the end.”

“That’s awful!”

“Like I said, it’s all blurry anyway. Though I do remember vividly the frustration of my last two attempts.”

“How so?”

Shisui showed him the last two photographs. One was of Lee, and the other one was of Hinata. They both looked very happy and very embarrassed, though they showed it in different ways.

“The elders got involved big time. First, they protested so much at Lee being nominated that it was basically another coup, like with Kiba, and then they vetoed everything he wanted to implement so…”

Neji gave a bitter laugh. “I see. What about Hinata?”

Shisui shook his head. “She tried. We both did. But the Hyuga Clan…” He threw a cautious look at Neji.

“I know what you mean.”

Shisui didn’t say anything.

“So now you’re here,” Neji said. “And you’re going to make me Hokage.”

“That’s right. What do you think?”

“I think…” Neji suddenly frowned. “Wait a minute. Why exactly am I your last choice?”

Shisui looked shifty. “Because I saved the best for last? And definitely not because you’re supposed to die in a few months and I thought I wouldn’t bother.”

Neji groaned. “I’m the dead one?”

“You’re also the hot one, if that’s any consolation.”

“Oh, _great_ ,” said Neji and Shisui laughed at him.


End file.
